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Monday, August 6, 2012

Feature Week-DAY 1: Archive 101 "FreshPinz"

Everyday this week I will be featuring independent designers that contribute to the male fashion movement. Today, get identified with Stan William's company: FRESHPINZ.

Tell me a little about your company? How long
has it been around?

Freshpinz is a one man company,
just me hand making every pin. Our slogan is "Express your fresh!" We have only been around for 3 months now,
and business is expanding so fast. We service out of Buffalo, NY where I
currently reside but I’m originally from Minneapolis, MN. We pride ourselves on
producing a reasonably priced, unique accessory with same day shipping.

What prompted the thought of originating “Freshpinz”?

Honestly
it was a fluke. There was an event a few months ago and I had a vision for my
outfit. I wanted to have an accessory like a brooch or pin to rock on the lapel
of my sport coat, something simple, but something that popped. Instead of going
out and searching for something to catch my eye, I just decided to make
something. Being that I often wore bowties, I thought it would be cool to have
something like that to wear. I went online and tried to find some type of
inspiration, and I came across some children’s crafts sites, and then I
found the materials to make the bow tie
pin which started everything.

It seems that most of your clientele comes from
the Greek Community. Not only do you feature NPHC Greeks but you pretty much
cover all groups (i.e Latin fraternities
and sororities as well as academic and business groups). Do you create other
types of designs, say if a company wanted to recreate their logo in a pin
format, could “Freshpinz” cater to that type of consumer?

I’m open to try anything. But scaling is an
issue for some logos or custom design. The more detailed the design is the
bigger it is in scale, and using beads..... its tough!!! I want to create an accurate depiction of the
customers design, so often I can tell right away if I can do it or not, then I
will make suggestions to make it work.

Below are sorority freshpinz in case you want to snag one for your favorite girl.

Without telling the tricks of the trade, explain
your designing process. Your pinz are very detailed. I’m most intrigued by how
you formulate your designs by creating visuals that look exactly like the logo
or picture you are depicting. Do you have to draw the designs first?

What I’m doing is nothing new,
we’ve all used to beads as a child. The twist is that I’m using a child’s craft
and creating adult accessories. The design process varies. Sometimes I can
search the net and find a child’s template and go from there, but most of the
time it’s me looking at a picture and playing around. Making curves and shapes
was extremely difficult at first and sometimes still gives me problems. But
most of the time now-- I just look for inspiration. I may sketch it out, but it’s
usually all freehand . I often ask people for ideas of things they think I
should make, and the Kappa YO- is the first Greek design I made, and is the one
I’m most proud of.

“The Male Brooch Epidemic” is making a HUGE
comeback. Last year you could barely get a guy to pin something on his jacket,
let alone a tee shirt. However, it seems as if “Freshpinz” has no problem
breaking the macho male ego when it comes to openly displaying your product in
a stylish sense. Why is that?

I believe the product is just cool. It’s just different and people
always want to have the jump on what’s new and fresh. Everyone has a unique style and my pinz cater
to that individuality. I think guys or
more conscious of what they wear today than ever before. The days of us just
walking out the house in some basketball shorts and Jordan’s has passed, it
seems that subtlety is the new trend, and guys are just looking for subtle
things to enhance their look, and I believe freshpinz does that.

What
makes “Freshpinz” so fresh? How is your product unique among other materials
like leggo pinz for example?

Lego pins are cool,
I’ve seen some people do some creative things with them, but the difference
with my product is the attention to detail. I’m able to use different types of materials to create accurate depictions. It’s more like pixel art. When I first started, I just made a few for
myself as a hobby, and I enjoyed it. I started to rock them out and people
wanted them. So I made some for them and I was just giving them away for free,
the idea was that this would never serve as supplemental income, but then
people were like, “Yo ..you need to start charging for these!” and I did, and
the rest is history.

Yes lol 3D, the concept was a
great thought but it hasn’t come full circle as of yet. I’ve made a few samples but it’s not there yet. The design process is easy but finding the
right type of glue has been a problem. So I’m in the lab working and getting it
right.

A good designer is always looking to reinvent
their product to keep it fresh. What’s new in the works for “Freshpinz”
designs?

I’m
always looking to create something new. The ideas just steam from everything
around me. I’m coming out with some color block pins next, and really digging
in to this 3D pins; trying to work the kinks out. The idea is to keep all designs subtle, and never outlandish.

Outside of your 3D pinz, What would you say has been your most
challenging design to create?

My original “YO” Kappa pin was the hardest because it was my first
Greek pin. I’m so proud of myself for that, because even I didn’t think that I
could be that creative. The feedback I got from that and buzz was crazy and I
sincerely appreciate it. And to reinvent it I added a bowtie to it and created
the “YoBOW” and that really took Freshpinz to another level. When I’m working
on a design for the first time, I’m just sitting at the workstation back
hunched over and tweezers in hand- moving beads around trying to see what
works-- and then when I get the clear vision it’s like EUREKA!

Are you a walking
billboard for your product?

Uh….. not so much now, I have so
many people supporting me now that I have walking billboards on every coast. I
get more pleasure out of seeing other people wearing them. I want to be the designer in the crowd and
overhear people giving praise and compliments about my pins asking where they
got them from and who made them etc. Not knowing that the person who made them
is right behind them lol. If you think about it-- a lot of people wear all these
labels and seldom see what the designer looks like. I want to be that type of
guy. I’m just laid back and appreciative for people even wanting to wear my
pinz let alone pay their hard earned money for, it’s humbling.

Check me out in FRESHPINZ below.

To check out the full freshpinz collection and to inquire about ordering, they can be reached via these outlets:

If you have a product that contributes to male fashion or know someone who does, send a media press kit, press release or any helpful information to TheXStylezBlog@gmail.com.

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